Ionization chamber for neutron flux measurements



vL.. W. MEAD VET AL I ONIZATION CHAMBER FOR NEUTRON FLUX MEASUREMENTS Filed Nov. l5, 1949 July 22, 1952 Patented July 22, 1952 romzATIoN CHAMBER FORYNUTRON FLUX MEASUREMENTS. Y i Louis W. Mead, Chicago, Ill., and Fontaine C; f

Armistead, Marblehead, Mass., assignors to the United States of America as represented by the United StatesAtomic Energy Commission Application November 15, 1949, serial Nb. iai-416 Our invention relates to radiation detectors, and more particularly to ion chambers having a high degree off sensitivity andV a-loW degree of induced vradioactivity in the materials of the components, and which may beespeciallyuseful in measuring the neutron density in high flux thermal piles.

In the prior art of neutron detection it has been the practice to coat electrodes Withsome active metal such as boron or lithium. Incident neutron radiation would causev the boron or-lithium nucleus to absorb the neutron and emit an. alphaparticle, which in turn, could ionize the, gas moleculesof an ionization chamber. The ion current was collected and the intensity thereof was a measure of the neutron flux. toA which Athe chamber Was exposed. V(See Brons. 2,200,509, and Kallmann,

Y etA al., 2,288,718.)

- However, the usefulness of the devices of the prior art were limited by lthe range of neutron ux values over which these devices would operate. This is known as the effective range and has also been. dened as the ratio of the ionization current, during exposure to neutron iiux, to the current producedby the neutron-induced, residual beta'and gamma activity within the chamber 30 minutes after its removal from the ux. In short, the'effective range over which the chamber Will give accurate results is generally limited by the background current vdue lto radioactivity induced in the chamber itself, and; 'also the sensitivityof the electrodes.

Thebackground currents were contributed to or determined by the induced Aactivityiin the materials of the vionization chamber, and the sensitivity was controlled by the quality of theooating on the electrodes.A Other factors such as gasleakage fandruggedness fof the envelope, also de# terioration of electrode mounting insulators under exposureto the high intensity radiations affected the perfomance or usefulness of the' device.l

Applicants with a knowledge of all these problerns in the prior Yarthave for an object of their invention the provision of a neutron sensitive ionization chamber Whichhas an increasedrange and vimproved sensitivity.

Applicants have as another object of their inventionthe provision of anionization chamber for'measuring neutron flux employing materials which 'have a minimum neutron induced radioactivity.

Applicants have as another object of ltheir invention the provision of an ionization chamber for measuringr neutron ux having electrodes with improved-'neutron sensitive coatings thereon.

s. canas. (o1. 31aen 2 Applicants have as a further-object of? theirv invention the provision of an ionizationchamber for measuring neutron fluxV which has low gas leakage. l

Applicants have as a still further object of their invention the provision of an ionization v,:halnber for measuring neutron flux which is rugged-, and which Will withstand the heat, shocks, strains and other conditions to which'it may be subjected. Other objects and advantages of our" invention will appear from thefollowing specicationand accompanying drawings and the novel features thereof will beI particularlypointed' out in the annexedA claims. y Y

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a schematic of one form of our improved ionization chamber. Eig.' 2 is a longitudinaI elevation of the active portion of our improved ionization'chamber. Fig. 3 is a detail of oneof the electrode mounting rods and the insulatingsleeve for mounting it in an end disk of our improved ionization chamber. Fig. 4 is a schematic ofthe vconnections between the electrodes and measuring circuit for our improved ionization chamber( Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view of one ofthe electrodes and itsmounting rods.

Among the commonly available materials, graphite and lead combine the smallest neutron absorption cross section with comparative freedom from radiation damage. Actually, graphite activatesv somewhat less than lead since it was found to be more easily purified and had better dimensional stability than lead,'it was preferable to f make the electrodes of graphite alone. Magnesium, the substance found to be'the least subject to activation among those having strength, machineability, lightness and 'availability, was used for the outer shield or casing. At low neutron fluxes and using a supply'volti age offset/erall hundred volts, essentially of the'ions are collected. At the highest fluxes, however, `less'than 100% are collected sincethe higher ion concentrations'are accompanied by appreciaable recombination' in the gas region. The rate of recombination increases with gas pressure and with electrode separation. 'As the --ionization chamber primarily measures alpha radiation, there is no great advantage inusing'pressures materially above atmospheric pressure and so 'the chamber is designed for that 'range of pressures. The electrode separation should be made as small as possible, but for maximum sensitivity the separation should be at least equal to the alpha particle range. The sensitivity at first-falls oi very slowly as the electrode spacing becomes less desirable to reduce the background current vre-v sulting therefrom. This may be effectively accomplished by providing compensating sensitive volumes so that the current therefrommay be differentially connected with respect to' the neutron sensitive volumes to balance out these back- I ground currents. Y

Referring to the drawings in detail and more particularly to Figs. 1 to 3, inclusive, an outer shield or tube I, preferably about 15 feet long and about four inches in diameter, is provided to house the sensitive volume and associated equipment. It is substantially cylindrical in shape and is gas tight. Disposed within the casing'or shield, adjacent one end thereof, is an active portion which includes a cylinder preferably of chemicalleador aluminum of about Aone-thirty second inches in; thickness, -having `a series of spaced parallel plates I0, II, I2, I3 and I4 extending longitudinally thereof land mounted along their longitudinal or side edges which seat in longitudinalY grooves 3I in mounting rods 30. A pair of mounting'rods 30 are employed to mount each electrode orA plate since they extend along and receive the edges thereof, as indicated in Fig. 5. The ends I5 ofthe mounting rods'30are reduced and seat in quartz insulators 6 carried in 'sockets in disks IB, I1 disposed within the cylinder 5. Thisfstructure is Nrmaintained in lassembled relation by assembly rods I8, I8which bridge the space between the ysets of disks I6, I 'I and-have screw threaded socketsingtheir ends to receive screws I9 which-extend; throughtheopenings in the disks I6, II and'co-act with the threaded socketsof the rods I8: ,The screws I9, I9 are car# ried by 4and pass `through the ends 21, 28 which serve to limit the movement of the sleeve ineisilaltors B and preventetheir removal from disks In theabove arrangement some of the elec-v trodes or plates I0, II, I2,`I3 and I4 were preferablycoated with boron-10 or some other suitable Yneutron sensitive material as described more in detail hereinafter. VAll of the plates or electrodes are' preferably of graphite' about 2%? x 10" x and are spaced about threeeighths inches apart. The 'coating is a deposit from 1 a suspension preferably of boron-10 of about 2.5 ing/cm3:l It may be'sprayed or painted on,.the surfaces ofthe electrodes and then permitted todry, or it maybe subjected to baking. Since the chamber .j is' internally compensated, as indicated hereinafter, it will ,only have one signallead 3 and two high voltage leads (011137 partially shown). The signal lead 3'preferably consists of a number iron wire insulated from a `oneinch magnesium or lead tube or foil by a 3 mmzjquartz tubing held by at one foot intervals. The one inch thickmagnesium or lead tube 3 `will be bentA in such a manner that pile radiationswill not be jable to-follow a straight path through it.` ,-Thehigh voltage leads '(only schematically indicated) consist of number 30iron wire insulated with v3V mm. quartz tubing.- All leads will pass 'through Kovar seals '1, eutectf:

quartz disks spaced y mospheric pressure.

lmeasured by thergauge on the end of the tube I.

, case, three inches.

soldered in a plate or cup shaped end 20 at one extremity of the tube. Magnesium plates or ends 20, 20 will be positioned in the tube adjacent its extremities, and will be welded to both ends or edges of the four inch tubing to give a gas tight seal. The space between the active portion 5 of the chamber andthe Kovar seals will be filled with some sort of hydrogenous material such as paraffin, if the temperatures permit, to slow down the fast neutrons. Positioned adjacent one end are spaced boron plastic plates 8 which will act as slow neutron absorbers. The chamber will be filled with nitrogen at slightly greater than at- This pressure may be The five electrodes I0, II, I2, I3 and I4, indicated schematically in Fig. 4, are at plates and this configuration was chosen rather than the cylindrical conguration for ease of coating, simplicity of removal, and convenience of storage and handling. 5 The outer plates I0, I4 are maintained `at a high-*positive potential by source 22 while intermediateplates I I, I3 are at an inter-V mediate positive potential, and the inner electrodel 2is at ground potential. The intermediate electrodes II,' I3 serve as the signal electrodes and are connected through the signal lead 3 to meter 23, which meter may take the form of a current meter, galvanometer or D. C. current amplifier.v The meter. 23 is, in turn, connected to the source of potential 'at an intermediate point. Inthis arrangement, they denne chambers 2|, 24,525 and 26, with thev electrodes I I and I3, coated with a neutron sensitive coating such as boron on their innerfaces, andthe center electrode I2 coated with this material on both faces or surfaces. When the chamber is subjected to neutron flux as from a high flux pile, it produces ionization only in chambers 24 and 25 by striking the boron coating where a' neutron is absorbed and an alpha particle is emitted. Collection of the alpha particlesv resulting from neutron' absorption gives' a measure of the neutron flux density. However, radiations such as beta and gamma rays also produce ionization in these chambers -and the current from electrodes lI I and I3 to electrode I2 asA a result 'thereof would tendA to limit the accuracy and/or rangeV of the measurement-of the neutron flux density which have also produced ions collected by the electrode I2. To overcome this objectionable feature, additional ion chambers 2I and 25 serve as compensating chambers since their electrodes are not coated with boron and sincethey are only responsive to ionization due to 'betaand gamma radiations. They may be connected in opposition to chambers 24 and 25 and Amay thus cancel out the effects of beta and gamma radiations in those chambers.

In measuring'the flux of a pile,1`the ion chamber and tube are inserted in instrument holes in the pile (not'showm. There are likely to lbe large flux gradients in these instrument'holes. The' optimum position for this chamber is 'at the pile shield interface Iwfhere the iiux is 6 x 10g neutrons/cm.2/sec. at 3800-. kw; power, and the relaxation length, that is, the distance in which the flux fallsby a factor e, is about three inches. Since'inv the high 'ux pile it is expected that this value of ilux density will be found near the reflector shield interface, it is probable that asimilar flux gradient would exist there. When the ux falls oir exponentially, it is clear that little can be gained by increasingr the length of the chamber over about one' relaxation length, or in this It is' also clear that insu# lators and support structures should be placed as far back from the sensitive part of the chamber as possible in order to minimize the radiation incident on them. The front end of the chamber should have a maximum of insensitive area withY a minimum of support structure.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

acter described comprising an elongated housing,

a tubular body disposed Within the housing and' extending longitudinally thereof for dening a sensitive volume, a series of longitudinally extending plates positioned in spaced relation in the body to define four ionization chambers, a neutron sensitive coating on the plates of two of said chambers for rendering them sensitive to both'neutron and other radiation, and means for coupling said coated plates to a measuring device in opposition to the uncoated plates so that the effects of ionization from said other radiation in two of said chambers with coated plates will balance out the eiects from the two chambers with uncoated plates and provide an indication of neutron flux.

2. A radiation detecting device of the character described comprising a hollow cylindrical body for providing a sensitive Volume, a series of plates in the body for dening a plurality of ionization chambers, said plates extending longitudinally of the body in parallel spaced relation, and means for supporting the plates in spaced relation, said means including a pair of ends bridged by plate engaging rods.

3. A radiation detecting device of the character described comprising a hollow cylindrical body providing `a sensitive volume, a series of plates disposed Within the body and extending longitudinally thereof in spaced relation to dene a plurality of ionization chambers, and means for supporting said plates, said means including a pair of ends bridged by a plurality of rods extending parallel to said plates, said rods being insulated from said ends and having longitudinal grooves therein for interlocking engagement with the edges 0f the plates.

LOUIS W. MEAD. FONTAINE c. ARMISTEAD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,088,584 Bucky Aug. 3, 1937` 2,288,718 Kallmann et al July 7, 1942 2,349,753 Pontecorvo May 23, 1944 2,440,167 Broxon et al Apr. 20, 1948 2,493,935 Wiegand et al Jan. 10, 1950 

